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Missouri's Jontay Porter to miss season after knee injury

Posted on 21 October 2018 at 8:34pm

COLUMBIA - The Missouri men’s basketball program suffered a crushing blow Sunday night when it was announced that sophomore power forward Jontay Porter will miss the entire 2018-2019 season after tearing the ACL and MCL in his knee. The injury occurred during a closed scrimmage with Southern Illinois.

Porter averaged 9.9 points and 6.8 rebounds as a freshman sixth man last season. He was named to the SEC all – freshman team and the co - SEC sixth man of the year. The 6’11 forward entered the draft initially, but opted to return to school for another year after testing the NBA Draft waters. Porter was projected by some as a sure-fire lottery pick in the 2019 NBA draft prior to the injury.

After a bounce back season last year that included the biggest boost in attendance nationally and a NCAA tournament appearance, the Missouri men’s basketball team was expecting big things this season with Porter leading the charge. 6’10 forward Jeremiah Tilmon and Porter were expected to be one of the top tandems of big men in college basketball this season. Tilmon’s ability to be a more traditional back to the basket big man complemented Porter’s outside shooting and playmaking.

Missouri has four other scholarship forwards on the roster, but Porter’s shoes will be tough to fill. Tiger fans can expect it to be a team effort as they try and fill Porter’s expected production. The Mizzou men’s basketball team begins the season November 6th when Central Arkansas visits Columbia.